Verbs followed by the dative case - Easy Learning Grammar German

1Verbs with a direct and indirect object

Some verbs are generally used with a direct object and an indirect object. For example, in the English sentence, She gave me a book, the direct object of gave is a book and would be in the accusative case in German, and me (= to me) is the indirect object and would be in the dative case in German.

Sie gab mir ein Buch.

She gave me a book.

direct object = ein Buch

indirect object = mir

In German, as in English, this type of verb is usually concerned with giving or telling someone something, or with doing something for someone else.

Sie erzählte ihm eine Geschichte.

She told him a story.

direct object = eine Geschichte

indirect object = ihm

Note that the normal word order after such verbs is for the direct object to follow the indirect, EXCEPT where the direct object is a personal pronoun.

Here are some of the most common examples of verbs which are used with both a direct and an indirect object:

•

anbieten

to offer

Sie bot ihr die Arbeitsstelle an.

She offered her the job.

•

bringen

to bring

Bringst du mir eins?

Will you bring me one?

•

beweisen

to prove

Können Sie es mir beweisen?

Can you prove it to me?

•

fehlen

to be absent or missing

Mir fehlt das nötige Geld.

I don’t have enough money.

•

geben

to give

Gib mir das sofort!

Give me that now!

•

schenken

to give (as a present)

Ich schenke ihr einen Computer zum Geburtstag.

I’m giving her a computer for her birthday.

•

schreiben

to write

Schreib ihm mal einen Brief.

Write him a letter sometime.

•

zeigen

to show

Zeig es mir!

Show me it!

2Verbs with their object in the dative

Certain verbs in German, such as helfen (meaning to help) can ONLY be followed by an object in the dative case. In many cases, their English equivalents have a direct object, and you need to learn the most common verbs which are different in this way.

Here are some of the most common ones.

•

begegnen

to bump into, meet

Er ist seinem Freund in der Stadt begegnet.

He bumped into his friend in town.

•

gehören

to belong to

Wem gehört dieses Buch?

Whose book is this?

•

helfen

to help

Er wollte ihr nicht helfen.

He refused to help her.

•

danken

to thank

Ich danke dir!

Thank you!

•

schaden

to damage

Rauchen schadet der Gesundheit

Smoking is bad for your health.

•

schmecken

to taste

Das Essen hat ihnen gut geschmeckt.

They enjoyed the meal.

•

trauen

to trust

Ich traue dir nicht.

I don’t trust you.

Key points

Some German verbs are usually used with a direct AND an indirect object.

The indirect object is ALWAYS in the dative case.

The normal word order after such verbs is for the direct object to follow the indirect, EXCEPT where the direct object is a personal pronoun.

Certain German verbs can only be followed by an object in the dative case.